Time-Out
by sirensbane
Summary: An explosion, EM shields fluctuating, and Nikola trapped in a lab with Druitt. What could possibly go wrong?


"Children!"

Mid argument and not two feet away from one another, John and Nikola turned to face a very irate Helen Magnus. As predicted, Nikola recovered first. "That's hardly fair, Helen. I'm a least as old as you are, and much more mature."

"Mature my ass," Helen said. "And if you make a reference there, Nikola," she added as he smirked and opened his mouth, "I will personally nail you to a wall."

"I'll help," John said grimly.

"You two are in _my_ house," Helen said, ignoring this. "And while you're here, I expect you to act like adults, not schoolyard adolescents." She fixed them with the glare that neither of them had ever quite been able to stand up to. "Now I suggest you both find something to keep yourselves occupied."

* * *

The lab had always been a place of escape for Nikola. At Oxford, whenever he'd been unable to watch John flirting with Helen, or when Nigel's pranks had gone too far, or when James was being particularly smug about a case, he'd always retreated to his chemicals and electricity. Just because he was at the Sanctuary now did not mean that had changed. If anything, it happened oftener; Huggie Bear alone trumped Nigel at his worst.

So when Will had started up a meaningless conversation about psychological drivel — Helen really needed to stop indulging him — Nikola had retreated to continue working on his serum. He was almost sure he'd figured out a way to avoid the death clause of his vampiric gene, which would allow his plans to proceed on schedule.

Just as he bent to check the results of his most recent test, he caught movement in the corner of his eye and stopped short. John Druitt stood in the doorway.

"So," the serial killer said, looking around. "This is where you spend the majority of your daylight hours."

Nikola glared. "Well, until I was most _rudely_ interrupted."

The slightest smile twitched John's mouth. "You always were so dramatic, Nikola. I'm just here to collect something for Helen." He moved past Nikola towards the cabinets along the wall. "Go back to your little experiment if you like."

"This _little_ experiment, as you call it, could change the course of history," Nikola said, trying to ignore the note of possessiveness in John's voice when he said Helen's name and the completely illogical anger which followed. "Just because you're a thug with a knife doesn't mean we all have to be."

John's shoulders tensed, and the coolness in his tone morphed a dangerous edge. "A thug? Rather more than that, I imagine."

"Well, the teleportation is handy, I'll admit."

It was only an apology with a lot of imagination, but John went back to rummaging without forcing Nikola to dodge said knife, so perhaps it was accepted.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" Nikola demanded irritably. "Or are you just here to plague me?"

"Detomidine. I don't suppose you know where that is."

"Why does Helen need horse tranquilizers? No, you know what?" he said when John smirked. "I don't want to know. If I had to guess, I'd say third cupboard on the left."

John opened the appropriate cupboard and Nikola heard the sound of shifting vials. After a moment, John closed the door again and slipped a vial into his pocket.

"I'll get out of your way then, old boy."

Nikola picked up his own beaker. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

John's lips thinned, but he did head for the door.

Then came the explosion.

* * *

"What the hell was that?"

"Explosion in the main lab." Henry's fingers flew furiously over the keyboard.

"Are we under attack?"

"Sensors aren't detecting anything...EM shields are going whack job."

"Where are the others?"

"The Big Guy and Kate are in the elevator...again."

Helen tried for a smile. "Perhaps they should start taking the stairs."

"I'm diverting power; they should be down in a minute or two."

"Will? Nikola? John?"

"Will...let's see...Will's in the library. He's fine. Tesla..oh man."

"What?"

"Tesla _and_ Druitt are in the lab."

"Together? Oh dear. Communications?"

"Better use the intercom. At least until I've made sure no one else is using our system."

"Patch me through."

* * *

When Nikola awoke, he was on the ground, and a rather large glass shard was protruding from his chest.

"Great," he said, hauling himself painfully to his feet and dusting himself off. "This was a brand-new suit." His hand caught on the glass shard, and he tugged it out impatiently, tossing it aside. A few feet away, Druitt lay unmoving on the floor. Now that his ears were no longer ringing, however, Nikola could hear a steady heartbeat coming from the man. Unconscious then, not dead. More's the pity.

"What the hell just happened?" he demanded of the room at large, coughing at the dust. A crackling sound, and he looked up to see an old-fashioned intercom coming to life on the wall. After a moment, Helen's voice came out of it.

"Nikola? John? What happened?"

"It's not my fault," Nikola said automatically. "And I'm fine, thank you for asking." He looked toward the door and was appalled to see that the entrance was completely blocked. "I'm more concerned by the fact that there no longer appear to be exits from this room."

"John?" Nikola hated the hint of worry that lurked in her tone.

"Napping." When Helen didn't say anything right away, he let out a huff of annoyance. "Honestly, Helen, he's fine. I'm monitoring his heartbeat..." Like he could shut the sound out even if he wanted to. "He should be able to teleport us out of here as soon as he wakes up."

She hesitated. "I'm sorry, Nikola, but the explosion knocked off the calibration of the EM shield. It's fluctuating wildly. Any attempt to teleport out of there could kill you both."

"What?! So you just want me to sit here with Johnnie Boy until you can find the time to dig us out?"

"Henry's running a full diagnostic," Helen said. "We should know more in about half-an-hour about what caused the explosion and how to fix the shield. In the meantime, stay alert."

Nikola let out a sharp breath. "Fine. But when we get out of here, you owe me a bottle of wine. The good stuff."

He heard the tense smile in her voice. "Fine. The good stuff." There was a click as the intercom turned off.

"Great," Nikola said again. "Just great." He swept the shards of glass off one of the nearby chairs, barely wincing as the glass tore open little holes in his hands that instantly re-healed. With the greatest dignity, he perched on it and waited for John Druitt to wake up.

* * *

"Henry, do we know any more about what caused the explosion?"

Henry turned to face her. He looked even more worried than normal. "I found a subroutine that was hidden in some of our security software. It looks like it was designed to bring down our shields. It triggered feedback, and...long story short, explosion. From when it looks like it was added, I would say the Cabal."

"The Cabal?"

He shrugged anxiously. "Best guess."

"But the Cabal have been gone for months."

"Maybe something went wrong with the timing," Henry said. "Set it off a little later than expected."

She smiled. "Well then, thank God for that."

He smiled tentatively in return. "Yeah, I don't even wanna think about what it would have been like if this had happened during a second attack or something."

"Can you fix it?"

"I'll do my best. The explosion knocked out some of the tech in the main lab." He looked embarrassed. "It might take awhile."

"I trust your abilities."

* * *

It was probably less than a minute, but it felt like ages before Druitt finally stirred.

"Took you long enough," Nikola said irritably.

Druitt groaned and pushed himself to his hands and knees, hissing as the glass shards opened little cuts. "What happened?"

"An explosion. Don't try teleporting," Nikola added as John snarled and made to do just that. It had been tempting to let him try, but Helen would kill Nikola afterwards, and that would put a rather permanent damper on his plans for world domination. "The EM shield has apparently been knocked all to hell. Helen said any attempt to teleport might kill you." He spread his hands. "But if you _insist_..."

"Helen?" John interrupted, staggering to his feet. "She's unhurt?"

"As far as I know," Nikola said, refusing to acknowledge his own worry. "We've got our own problems now, Bullyboy. In case you haven't noticed, there are no longer any exits from this room. Without teleportation, we're trapped here."

John's head snapped around, confirming Nikola's statement, and his mouth tightened dangerously. "How long?"

"Until Wolf Boy can restore the shields. So knowing him, quite possibly forever."

"I need to be _out there_ ," John growled, laying his hands against the place where the door had been and was now a mess of metal and other debris. The action further opened the mild injuries on his fingers. "We don't know what is happening. Helen could be under attack." Ignoring the cuts completely, John grabbed hold of a metal girder. "Help me."

"It won't give way," Nikola said, but went over there anyway. The thought of being locked in a busted up lab with Druitt made him willing to try long shots. And damn it, he was _not_ a damsel in distress. But after several minutes of straining by both men, the girder had not moved. Nor had any of the other debris. The explosion had jammed it in too tightly.

"What's right above us?" Nikola asked. "Perhaps we could bust out through the ceiling."

"The holding areas." Druitt did have a good sense of direction; Nikola had to give him that. Probably something to do with the teleporting. "We'll never get through there; the floor is made of solid metal."

Nikola considered. The vampire state made him durable, but he'd seen the flooring of that holding area. As much as he hated to admit it, Druitt was probably right. The floor of this room was metal too. "Walls?"

"Might be worth a shot."

They tapped around until they found a space between studs and attacked it with brute force, aided by shoulders and the odd metal chair. Finally, they stopped to rest. Apparently, Helen had thought to reinforce the walls of the lab. Of course, Nikola thought wryly, with Wolf Boy as her techie, it was probably self-defense.

* * *

"Magnus? Are you alright?

"Yes, Will, I'm fine."

"Henry filled me in. Do you really think this subroutine was left by the Cabal?"

"That's what Henry thinks. Fortunately, no one was killed."

"That's something, at least. Well, I guess we'd better start the clean-up….Where's Tesla? I would have thought he'd have showed up to whine at least by now."

"He and John are in the lab."

"Oh good… _wait!_ Tesla's in there with _Druitt_?"

Helen couldn't help but smile. "You're not the first to react that way, Will. Unfortunately, they will just have to wait."

* * *

"It's been hours! A one-legged monkey could have fixed those shields by now."

"Now, now, Nikola," John said from where he was seated on a stool. "Patience. Isn't that what you said an hour ago?"

"Patience, my bloodthirsty friend, is no longer a virtue."

"Because you are no longer capable of it?"

Nikola ignored him with great effort and went to the intercom that Helen had used earlier. "Helen, what the _hell_ is happening?"

After a moment, Helen replied. Her voice sounded strained. "Several of our patients have been injured or trapped by the explosion. We're working to free them now."

" _I've_ been trapped by the explosion!" Nikola said. "And I'm far more charming then any of the creatures you have locked up in the SHU."

Behind him, John snorted.

"Jealousy is unbecoming," Nikola told him.

"At least John isn't whining," Helen pointed out. It sounded like she was trying not to smile.

"Well, of course he isn't," Nikola said. "Johnny Boy is always trying to make me look bad. An impossible task, I know, but there you go."

"You hardly need assistance in that area," John said wryly, but he stood up and approached the intercom. "Helen, far be it for me to agree with Nikola, but I cannot promise his continued health if we are forced to remain here long. Restraint has never been one of my _chief_ virtues."

"We'll have you out as soon as possible," Helen promised. "In the meantime, gentlemen, I suggest you use the time to learn to get along." There was a resolute click.

"Well," John said into the silence. "It seems that we now have some time on our hands."

* * *

"But Doc, I fixed the shields already," Henry asked. "And we sure could use some help with clean-up."

"Trust me, Henry, it's for the best," Helen said, a satisfied light in her eyes as she watched the men on the monitor reluctantly begin a halting conversation to pass the time. Some of the words weren't even insults. "Hopefully, when we let them out in a couple of hours, they will have reached an understanding and we'll have more peace in the Sanctuary from now on."

"Or they'll kill each other," Will pointed out.

Helen shrugged, eyes twinkling. "Either way."

"What are the odds that they will agree to blame Magnus and not us?" Will asked after Magnus left.

Henry groaned. "We are so dead."


End file.
